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Exploring Qunu: Nelson Mandela's home village

A billboard with a poster of former South African President Nelson Mandela is seen at the Nelson Mandela museum near his home, in Qunu, South Africa, June 12, 2013.

Mandela was a leader in the struggle against racist white rule in South Africa and preached reconciliation once he emerged from prison in 1990, after 27 years behind bars. He won South Africa's first truly democratic elections in 1994, serving one five-year term. The Nobel laureate later retired from public life to live in the remote village of Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, where he had spent his boyhood.

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Morning mist sits in a valley near the home of former South African President Nelson Mandela, in Qunu, South Africa, June 14, 2013.

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A group of old gum trees stands in the yard of the Mqhekezweni Great Place Heritage site, April 2, 2013, about 8 miles west of Qunu, South Africa. Called "The Great Place," the area underneath these large trees was where Nelson Mandela learned about history and politics from Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, when Mandela was in the chief's care from ages 10 to 18.

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The "Great Place" palace at Mqhekezweni, where Former South African President Nelson Mandela was entrusted under the guardianship of Thembu regent Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, April 5, 2013.

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A painted footprint, made to represent the tracks of former South African President Nelson Mandela, leads visitors around the Mqhekezweni Great Place Heritage site, April 2, 2013.

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Former South African President Nelson Mandela's coral-colored home and compound stands next to the N2 highway, April 2, 2013, in Qunu, South Africa. After spending 27 years in prison for his anti-apartheid work, Mandela returned to Qunu and built an exact replica of the small dwelling where he spend his last two years in prison, then later built the larger retirement home.

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Former South African President Nelson Mandela's coral-colored home and compound stands in Qunu, South Africa, April 2, 2013.

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Mandla Mandela, center, walks through the gate of his grandfather Nelson Mandela's home in Qunu, South Africa, June 15, 2013.

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Posts mark the area where former South African President Nelson Mandela attended his first school, April 2, 2013, in Qunu, South Africa.

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Children play soccer on a dusty playground at the Nelson Mandela No-Moscow Primary School in Qunu, South Africa, June 11, 2013.

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School children pour water into a large container at their school, the Nelson Mandela No-Moscow Primary School in Qunu, South Africa, June 11, 2013.

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School children play on the roof of a building at the Nelson Mandela No-Moscow Primary School in Qunu, South Africa, June 11, 2013.

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A statue of former South African president Nelson Mandela is seen in front of the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha, South Africa, approximately 25 miles from his home town of Qunu.

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Two women walk down a road in the village of Qunu, South Africa, June 12, 2013.

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A young boy herds sheep in Qunu, South Africa, June 12, 2013.

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Herdsmen guide their cattle past the house of former South African president Nelson Mandela, in the village of Qunu, South Africa, June 12, 2013.

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Boys from the Eastern Cape village of Qunu, South Africa, play soccer on a makeshift pitch, June 13, 2013.

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Children guide a flock of sheep in Qunu, the hometown of former South African president Nelson Mandela, on June 14, 2013.

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Children play with a go-cart in Qunu, the hometown of former South African president Nelson Mandela, June 14, 2013.

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Children play with a go-cart in Qunu, the hometown of former South African president Nelson Mandela, on June 14, 2013.

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Yibanathi Matikinca, 10, arrives at the Qunu Junior Secondary School, in a village outside the town of Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, June 14, 2013.

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Yibanathi Matikinca, 10, arrives at the Qunu Junior Secondary School,in a village outside the town of Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, June 14, 2013.

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Boys walk to school in Qunu, South Africa, June 14, 2013.

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Mthatha Airport is approximately 18 miles away from the village of Qunu, South Africa, where former South African President Nelson Mandela grew up.

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A view of the Mandela family grave site, from a hill above Qunu, South Africa, June 15, 2013. The burial of 97-year-old Florence Mandela, a relative of former South African president Nelson Mandela, was taking place.

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The entrance to the land containing Nelson Mandela's family graves in Qunu is seen in January 2011.

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Former South African President Nelson Mandela's family's graveyard is pictured in Qunu, Eastern Cape, South Africa, on April 5, 2013.

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Horses stand on the side of a road above a village near Qunu, South Africa, June 16, 2013.

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Women and a child carry goods on between villages near Qunu, a village outside the town of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, June 16, 2013.

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A woman carries water across a makeshift football field in Qunu, South Africa, where former South African President Nelson Mandela grew up, June 13, 2013.

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A woman walks between two houses in Qunu, a village outside the town of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, where former South African President Nelson Mandela grew up, June 11, 2013.

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A girl carries a plastic basin on her head in Qunu, South Africa, June 12, 2013.

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A dog crosses the road in Qunu, a village outside the town of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape where former South African President Nelson Mandela grew up, June 14, 2013.

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A herd of sheep passes houses in Qunu, South Africa, June 14, 2013.

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A woman gathers water from a dam for use at her home, near the house and birth place of former South African President Nelson Mandela. in Qunu, South Africa, June 12, 2013.

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An elderly woman with a leg injury makes her way home near the house and birth place of former South African President Nelson Mandela, in Qunu, South Africa, June 12, 2013.

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School children read on a high bench at Qunu primary school, Qunu, South Africa, June 14, 2013.

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A farmer picks his maize in a field near the house and birthplace of former South African President Nelson Mandela, in Qunu, South Africa, June 12, 2013.

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Children practice singing at the Qunu Junior Secondary School, April 2, 2013, in Qunu, South Africa.

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A worn-smooth area marks the face of the "sliding rock" near the Nelson Mandela Museum's Youth and Heritage Center, April 2, 2013, in Qunu, South Africa. Mandela lived in Qunu as a young boy and would slide down this large granite rock with friends while taking breaks from herding cattle on the rolling hills nearby.

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A child plays on the "sliding rock" in Qunu, South Africa, April 5, 2013.

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Siblings Solam Zidlele, left, 4, and Nam Zidlele, 5, pose for a photograph at their home in Qunu, South Africa, April 2, 2013.

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A man walks in front of a transparent window bearing the image of South African former President Nelson Mandela, at the Nelson Mandela museum in Qunu, South Africa, April 5, 2013.

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Sibabalwe Mehlomane, a 17-year-old resident of Qunu, walks across a field in Qunu, June 12, 2013.

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A young boy walks down a road in Qunu, South Africa, June 12, 2013.

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Herdsmen guide their cattle past the house of former South African president Nelson Mandela, in the village of Qunu, June 12, 2013.

Credit: JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty

Children from the Eastern Cape village of Qunu play soccer on a makeshift pitch, June 13, 2013.

Credit: JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty

Children from the Eastern Cape village of Qunu play soccer on a makeshift pitch, June 13, 2013.

Credit: JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty

Children guide a flock of sheep in Qunu, the hometown of former South African president Nelson Mandela, on June 14, 2013.

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A woman sits under the front page of the South African daily The Star, reading, "Don't Let Madiba Go - Qunu villagers," June 11, 2013 on the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa.